Elias e



(No Model.)

E. B. RIES. PROCESS 0E WELDING TOGETHER SECTIONS 0E PIPE BY ELEGTRIGITY.

No. 402,107. Patented Apr. 23, 1889.

l. Il

.cm... Z m o m .Q

UNITED ELIAS E. Rius, oF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, A 's'sirGNoR fro Rius anririnnxnsoiv.v

P-.ROCESS OF WELDING TOGETHERl SECTIONS O F PIPE BY ELECTRICITY.` I

" -sPncmmArIoN'rox-ming part or Letters 15mm 510,402,107, eared April2a, ipse.

Application iiled February 12, 1889. Serial No. 299,572. (Fumueli) I Toall whom it mayconcern.-`

'Be it known that I, ELIAS E. RIES, a citizen -of the United States,residing at Baltimore, in

the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Processes of felding together Sections of Pipe, of which thefollowing isa specification.

This invention has reference to the art of are welded togetherby theprocess heretofore used, the plastic metal is upset at the point ofjuncture, and to a considerable extent forced into the interior ofthewelded sections,

there forming a rib or burr which contracts the internal area of thepipe and o'bstructs the passage. This invasion of the pipe I presuitablesubstance or form, which, bearing on the interior surface of thepipe-sections, will effectually resist the invasion of the plasticmetal, and, as the latter is upset, will thereby cause the excess ofmetal to accumulate on the exterior of the sections at the joint, form-V1 of apparatus may be employed, and I have q tobe understood I am in nomanner confined, I

shown in the annexed drawings, which form part of this specification, anapparatus which may be used to advantage, but to which it is and towhich no claim is herein made, nor to any part thereof.

.I have illustrated in Figure 'l an apparatus which two pipe-sectionsare shown in position shown mainly in longitudinalsection;- in Fig. 2,an end view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; in Fig. 3, a longitudinalsection, on a larger scale than that of Fig. l,`ofA an expansible andremovable core which`n1ay be used in my process; in Fig. 4, an end'viewof the core shown in Fig. 3; in Fig. 5 a perspective view of one and aportion of the core-manipulating rod in longitudinal section and on thesame scale as Fig. 3, of the contiguous ends of two pipes to be weldedwith the `core in position,- and an exteriormoldclalnp for fopming anexternal head or rib at the joint; and in Fig. 7, a side view of themold-clamp. d

Like' numerals of reference indicate like parts throughout the drawings;

Upon a bed-plate, l,constructed of Vwood or castings, 2 2.L One of thesecastings is se# cured directly and iminovably to the bed by bolts 3',having'their heads embedded in the casting andy their threaded endsextending through the bed-plate into countersinksgi on its upper side,and they there have nuts 4 applied to them. The other casting is movableon the bed to and from the fixed casting, and is held to the said bed bya beve-led plate or bar, 5, which passes through an undercut groove inthe under side of the casting, as shown. This plate or bar 5 is securedto the 'into other countersinks, 4, where vnuts 4 are applied to them.The movable casting is adixed casting vby means of a screw rod, 7, whichextends through a nut in the movable casting, and also through theupturned end 8 of the plate or bar 5. This rod is provided on each sideof the upturned end 8 with acollar, 9, and terminates in an insulatinghand-wheel, l0, of wood or other suitable material. vIt will now beapparent that on turning the handable casting may be adjusted toor fromthc fixed-casting.

y for thcpractical application of m`y process, in On the upper part ofeach casting isla jaw,

to be welded together, the apparatus being' and its hand-wheel; in Fig.6,3. view, mainly.

other insulating material, 'are' mounted two bed by bolts 6, extendingtherethrough and.

justed on the plate 5 to and from the other or wheel l0 in-one directionor the other the movsection of the core,.the4 link connected therewith,the head to which the link is secure,d

11,v connect-ed near one end to' the said cast-v ingby a hinge,`12,an'dat the other'end prov- .vided witlia4 latch, 13, hinged thereto at 14.When the, jaw is closed on the top of the casting, it is held theret byengaging the latch 13 vover a nose, 415, on the said casting.

The casting and the jaw hinged thereto form, in

' 1 effect, a clamp, both parts being recessed to receive the section ofpipe or other article `to be welded. These recesses maybe semicircularin shape to receive and hold cylinr.drical pipe-sections such as shownin the drawings, or they may be of any other shape i to conform to thatof the sections to be welded, v.0r. I may rsa bushings of various sizesand shapes to adapt the clamps to the articles to be welded. Eachcasting is provided with .a binding-post, 16, and these binding-postsrreceive the leading-in wires' 17, coming from a source of electricalcurrent capable of heating the articles held by the clamps to a wei'dingheat.

By preference I use in my process alternating currents of low' tensionand great quantity-such, for instance, as are furnished by v inductionaltransformers; but I may with ad-I vantage use other means of producingllowtension currents, such as the direct current of a' d yn'ainoora-secondary battery.

In the drawings I have shown two sections.

of straight pipe, 18 19, clamped in position for welding; but my processis not confined v'as it may be used. for curved or other shapedsections,the shape of the clamps being modiiied to hold the same. Within the[pipe-sections at the joint to" bewelded I place a removable core, 20,of refractory insulatingina-` terial-'such as clay, slate, sand, orother sub.-v stance; but I prefer-to construct the same of two solidapproximately semi-cylindrical.

pieces, 21, 21,.-each being somewhat less than la half-cylinder, so thatwhen placed together they may be readily inserted in the pipe-sectionsand be. subsequently separated to bear on the interior surface thereof.Each piece j 21' has in its fiat side a longitudinal groove orj-frecess, 22, decreasing in depth from the ends i toward the center,and there terminating in .Y gether, thesegrooves form wedge-shapedpas--l 'i j sages andthe two recesses 23 form-a central -alaterally-arranged curved? recess, 23, of

: greater diameter than the groove 22. When the twoI sections' of thecore are placed toannular groove;v Within. these passages I placewedge-shaped' nuts24g, with a right and left hand screw-rod, 25,"passing through them, andprovided with acollar, 26, occupy;VA j lingtheannular recesses 23. f The rod. 25 is of l 6o sufficient-'length toextend beyond the free end of`one of the pipe-sections when the coretllejblock 26v by a link, 28,-"pixl'otedj 'eyes 29- is at the joint, andat the outer end itextends througha block or head, 26', and is therevprovidedwitha hand-wheel, 27, of woodvorv otherinsulaaing material.

Each section 21 of the core vis connected to plastic metal toinvade thepipe-sections and y tageous.

im 'both the com aina block.. It win ,not be seen that, by manipulatingthe hand-wheel 27 to vturn the rod 25 in either v direction thewedge-nuts '24 will be drawn toward each other or forced apart, and thecore expanded or contracted. Y

With an apparatus constructed as above" described my-process ispracticed as follows: I first place the two sections of pipe or otherhollow articles to be welded together in the clamps, with the edges ofthe pipes facing each other. -The'n by operating the screw-rod 7 theseedges are brought into contact. A I then insert the core in the closedor contracted condition through the open end of one of the l pipes andmove it forward to bridge the interior of the ends to be welded. 'Then Iturn the rod 25 to cause ythe wedges to approach each other, and.thereby force the two partsof the core apart. The core thusexpandedjfills the interior ofthe pipe-sections a d 'bears on' theinternal surface of the ends to be welded. T-heelectric current isnow-allowed topass, and in its passage -meets its 'greatest resistanceat the-ends of the sections, which are, by; preference, chamfered bothinside and outPv side down to a comparatively thin edge-,as shown. Thesedges'are almost immediately brought toa welding heat and forni aninitial weld, while'thethicker portions of the chamfer andv theadjacentQ parts are more slowly reduced to the plastic state, afterwhich I complete the weld by manipulating the screw-y rod 7 tofforc'ethesectionstogether and upset the metal at the joint., The core presents anun'yielding surface on the interior ofthe pipe and `ee'etnally resiststhe tendency of the form a rib o'rburn'whichf would reduce theirinternal' area or capacity. The upset met-al therefore accumulates inthe formof a bead or rib on the exterior of thejoined sections,

which is not only unobjectionable, but advan- I form this rib by the useof a moldclamp, 30, of refractory andinsulating .material-#such as clay,slate, orother suitable- .substance-and constructed oftwosemicircular.jaws hinged .together at 31, and` each provided on the inner face with agroove, 32. (Shown in section in Fig. 6 andr indicated by dotted linesin Fig. 7.) a This clampis applied to the ends to be'welded, and thejaws are heldtogether bya latch,:33, hinged to one .jaw atr34 andengaged overa nose, 35, on the other jaw; As the plastic'materialaccumulates on the exterior' of the'sections, it flowsl into andfinallyfillsthe groove 32, thereby forming a well-defined bead on theexterior 1g 5 of the pipe, which materially strengthens the joint, while'the interior .is smooth and unobn' structed. In place'of a regularmold-clamp I may use a loose wrapping of asbestuscloth, in which ca se,however, the external -rbl or expansion of thecore will cause a slightsepa-v rationotl the two' parts thereof, and in prac- 'ticeaf smallamount of the plastic .metal may IOC.)

1go .projectionwill not be so well defined. 'The 1 of metal pipe orother hollowmetallic articles,l

fiom-therein. This interior projection at the joint, if present, wi-llotter no appreciable obstruction to the passage, as it will`be very thinand longitudinally disposed in the welded v`pipes, and, ifnecessary,'can be readily removed. The formation of such an interiorprojection may be prevented, however, by the use of a core `of sandorother substance in a finely-divided state that can'be packed 'solidly inthe sections when in contact and easily removed when theweld iscompleted.

. When the mold-clamp for eircumscribing and shaping the bead o'n'theoutside of the pipeis used in practicing my invent-ion, the metalforming such bead' or protuberance will be as dense as that of the bodyof the pipe, having been vcompressed Within the mold to a considerabledegree; but the protuberance may be further condensed by compression or,preferably,'by hammering, and by this additional step in my processgreat strength is given to the weld and is of particular utility when,in the place of a regular mold-clamp, a loose wrapping of asbestus clothis used, or when neither the mold-clamp nor asbestus cloth is used, forin that case the upset material forming' a protuberance 011 the outsideof the pipe will be comparatively porous-unless it becondensed byhammering' or otherwise.

By my process a long line of tubes or pipes maybe produced by weldingtogether successive sections of the same, in which case the expansiblecore is moved from section to section-that is to say, after theproduction of the Weld between two sections the core is removed and isplaced in position at the next succeeding joint, and so forth,.to theend of the line of pipes. l

llaving described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by4Letters Patent,

l. The process of welding together sections of metal pipe or otherhollow metallic articles, consisting in backing the interior of thesections about the contiguous ends by means of an unyielding core, andthen raising the said ends to awelding heat by means of a current ofelectricity and upsetting the plastic metal to coni plete the weld,substantially as de: scribed. i

2. The process of welding' together sections consisting in introducing acore within the sections, then raising their contiguous ends to awelding hea-t by the action of a current of electricity, and thenforcing the sections together to complete the weld, substantially asdescribed.

3. The process of welding together sections of metal pipe or otherhollow metallic articles;y consisting in raising the contiguous ends ofvthe sections to a Welding heat by the action of a current of electricityand then upsetting'the said ends in the presence of an unyieldinginternal medium, whereby the upset metal is 6 5 tions, substantially asdescribed.

5. The processof Welding together sections off metal pipe or otherhollow metallic articles,

consisting in reducing the mass or thickness of the edges to be weldedto increase their kelectrical resistance, then placing the sections withthe reduced edges in contact, then introducing a removable core ofelectrically nonconducting material within the sections, and thenraising the ends of the sections to a welding heat by a current ofelectricity and forcing the said ends togetherl to upset the fused metaland complete the weld, substantially as .de-

scribed.

6. The process' of Weldingtogether sections of metal pipe or otherhollow metallic articles, consisting in reducing the mass or thicknessof the edges to be welded to increase their electrical resistance, thenplacing the sections with the reduced ends in Contact, then introducinga removable core of electrically nonconducting material within thesections, then raising their contiguous ends to a welding heat bytheaction of a current of electricity, and upsetting the plastic metal andcircumscribing and limiting Ithe protuberance thereof on the exterior otthe sections, substantially as described.

IOO

7. The `process of welding together sections l of metal pipe or otherhollow metallic articles, consisting in raising their contiguous ends toa welding heat bythe action of a current of electricity in the presenceof an unyielding core, then upsetting the said ends, whereby the upsetmetal is forced to the exterior of the pipe, and then condensing theupset portion by external pressureor hammering, substantially asdescribed.

8.A The process of forming continuous lines of pipe, consisting inelectrically welding together one section after the other of such pipein the presence of an nnyielding removable core at the lines ofjuncture, whereby the upset metal is forced to the exterior of the pipe,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name 4to this specification in.the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ELIAS E. RIES.

Witnesses:

E. Il. Pnsernv, L. A. XVRM.

IIO

